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.Dd $Mdocdate: September 3 2010 $
.Dt READLINK 1
.Os
.Sh NAME
.Nm readlink
.Nd display target of symbolic link on standard output
.Sh SYNOPSIS
.Nm readlink
.Op Fl fn
.Ar file
.Sh DESCRIPTION
The
.Nm
utility when invoked with the pathname of a symbolic link as its
argument dereferences the symbolic link and prints the name of target
on standard output.
If the
.Fl f
option is not specified and
.Nm
is invoked with an argument other
than the pathname of a symbolic link, it exits with a nonzero exit
code without printing anything.
.Pp
The options are as follows:
.Bl -tag -width Ds
.It Fl f
Canonicalize by following every symlink in every component of the given
path recursively.
.Nm
will resolve both absolute and relative paths and
return the absolute pathname corresponding to
.Ar file .
The argument does not need to be a symbolic link.
.It Fl n
Do not print a trailing newline character.
.El
.Sh EXIT STATUS
.Ex -std readlink
.Sh SEE ALSO
.Xr readlink 2 ,
.Xr realpath 3
.Sh HISTORY
The
.Nm
utility first appeared in
.Ox 2.1 .
